Gentle Touches
by Dancer Traveler Dreamer
Summary: Emily is suffering from the side effects of "that time of the month". What does Hotch do to make her feel better? Established Hotch/Emily. Oneshot.


**a/n: This is set sometime during season 8, but slightly AU, as Emily decides to stay with the BAU. I hope they're not too OOC! Also, my first CM fic, so be gentle please! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm just an unemployed, overworked university student!**

He'd known something was off with her all day. She outwardly maintained a façade that to a non-profiler would seem normal and managed to reasonably fool the rest of the team, though he knew her better than most. Having worked with her for the past 7 years, as well as being her partner outside of work–she disliked the terms boyfriend and girlfriend-for the past year, he knew how to read her like the back of his hand. It hadn't been the first time he'd seen her like this.

Several things confirmed his suspicions. The way she had glared at Reid, who dared start one of his side tangents or had snapped at Garcia when her searches yielded no further leads to point them towards their unsub. As well as the fact that she had picked slightly looser clothing, or that she shied away from any kind of physical contact, yet had sought him out for a hug in a hidden corner of the police station during a lull in their work. One thing Hotch was sure of, Emily Prentiss was on her period, and was struggling with the pain that came along with it. He knew that she was often struck with excruciating cramps that often defied even the strongest medication or holistic treatment.

It was after he had sent the rest of the team out on assignments and he and Emily were in the conference room working victimology when he quietly broached the topic.

"How bad is the pain exactly?"

"I'm sorry?" She looked up from across the table, where she had been studying a case file.

He looked at her pointedly. "The cramps. I know they've been bothering you all day."

"They're particularly bad, nothing I do seems to work. Pain meds, heat, cold, nothing. I can handle everything else that comes with my cycle, but the pain always gets to me" She grimaced, flipping the page.

He nodded. Hotch hated seeing her like this, and he could tell she wanted nothing better than to go back to the hotel and curl up in bed. And after all she'd gone through with Doyle, he hated seeing her in any kind of pain, no matter how inconsequential. He smiled gently back, and discreetly took her hand under their files.

"Hopefully we can figure something out that'll help." He said.

She smiled back weakly, and nodded. They both went back to their files, and soon lost themselves back in their work. The day ended up dragging on well into the night, as pieces of information started trickling in. It was almost 1:30 when the team made it back to the hotel under Hotch's order that they couldn't be working at 100% in they didn't have enough sleep.

Even though they'd been in a relationship for decent amount of time and spent most nights when they weren't on a case together, Hotch and Emily tended to get separate hotel rooms, when space allowed. This gave them a bit of space to process and decompress after the long days. Usually this arrangement worked fine, but tonight, Hotch could tell that Emily didn't want to be alone, and he had devised a plan. As they reached their floor, he fell into step with her.

"Meet me in my room in 20 minutes."

She nodded, but didn't question, they leaned on each other if they'd had a bad day, case or no case. They split up to change get ready for the night. He wanted to make her feel better, if only a little bit. Upon reaching his room, he quickly changed and started putting his plan into action. Digging out his iPod and travel speakers, he put on some soft music he knew she liked, then headed for the bathroom. He went through the motions of getting ready for bed, brushing his teeth and washing his face, before moving back to dig through his go bag. Soon after he was interrupted by a knock on the door, and he moved to open it.

Emily slipped by him, dressed in sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. She smiled weakly, as he dropped a kiss to her temple, before leading her over to the bed and sitting them both down. Being with Emily had brought out the softer side of him that so rarely came out at work.

"I know these are your favourite, so I always keep some in my go bag for these kind of occasions." He said, holding out a small bag of m & m's.

"Thanks." She said, all but snatching the package out of his hand, and ripping it open, before popping some of the candies into her mouth. She looked up when Hotch moved towards the head of the bed. He sat up against the headboard, and motioned for her to join him. She looked at him slightly confused.

"Work with me here, Em. I know it sometimes helps the pain just lying together and cuddling."

She looked between him and the candies in her hands, confliction evident in her face. She stood up and set down the candies on the desk, before crawling up beside Hotch and tucking herself into his side. He gently wrapped his arms around her torso, making sure to avoid her tender, painful lower torso. She sighed, and placed her head on his shoulder.

"This feels really nice, thank you." She smiled up at him. They fell asleep like that, not Agents Hotchner and Prentiss, but Aaron and Emily.


End file.
